A Look through the Glass
by mrastounding
Summary: "They say that the eyes are the window to the soul...yet few would guess that for one special little girl, there was more then one observer waving back" an alternate look at some of the events of 'Revelations 2', at least with the Barry Burton campaign (rating subject to change; additional genres: drama, adventure, horror, spiritual, hurt/comfort, and possibly others)
1. Chapter 1

"The best laid schemes of mice and men  
Go often askew"

Robert Burns

Chapter 0: Prologue

A Friendly Face in the Mirror…wait, what?

Unknown POV

"…The bird has changed." I found myself smiling as I finish reading that, thinking on of how true that last statement from that particular section of 'The Zürauer Aphorismens' was, though not QUITE of the variety I would have expected to grace my face two years ago…but then again, my soul sister, in terms more accurate than one would expect, probably didn't have much reason to smile back then either, and today was the day that I finally introduced her, or rather RE-introduce MYSELF, to my…OUR family. For those of you reading this journal, you're probably wondering who I am and why I say these things, and I don't blame you: for those not in the know, this might sound like the incoherent babbling of a crazed lunatic…though given my original upbringing, that might not be too far off the mark.

To set your mind at ease, let me introduce myself: my name was Alexandra Manuela Wesker, though I preferred Alex: past tense, as I'm fairly certain that even if things HAD gone the way they were intended, that wouldn't exactly be true anymore. To make an elaborate scheme simple, I had attempted to transfer my consciousness, as I was originally on the verge of death due to a condition with no cure in sight, into one Natalia Korda, now Natalia Burton, so that, in manipulating her fragile soul into surrendering her very existence to me, I would continue the Wesker family's goal of spreading fear throughout the world…or at least, that was what was SUPPOSED to happen. I still don't understand it, even now, but the two of us…bonded over, among other things, our mutual lack of a supportive family and equal parts gratitude to one Barry Burton and his daughter, and our adoptive sister, Moira, for accepting us with open arms…ironically enough, given that the former helped to take down my dead brother on one occasion. In short, we became as close as two sisters, in spite of our literally shared living space, even helping one another overcome each other's individual shortcomings and weaknesses. I just hope the Burton's and family friend Claire Redfield will listen to what I have to say: even if things HAD gone according to my original plan, I would see to it that those Neo-Umbrella stooges were dealt with, seeing how they were acting without MY consent….but that's an issue for later. For now, I want to tell you how this all came to be…but not before clearing a few things up.

Now, I'd be lying through my teeth if I said that things started out smoothly between us: heck, I purposely tried to get her killed in order to submit to me…which in hindsight is just one of MANY signs that my original plan was a bit half-baked: I didn't even arrange to give myself a way off the island I was originally using as a base of operations, for crying out loud. Needless to say, Natalia proved stronger than anticipated, for which I'm glad, thought I didn't show it at the time. In fact, my first clear words to her, no tricks involved whatsoever, were "There's still plenty of time to get under your skin…and next time, you won't see me coming."* I was right of course, and yet looking back I couldn't have been more wrong…but I'm getting ahead of myself. In fact, I think it's big-little sister Natalia's turn to narrate.

Natalia's POV

You can't tell, but I'm blushing right now: she ALWAYS has to tease me about how, thanks to the "age" of the mind transfer and/or the mind involved, she's both younger and older than me at the same time. Anyways, before I go further, I should probably mention that I understand that some of you out there aren't all that supportive of the idea of a known criminal - yes, I know the term is "bio-terrorist", but I'm keeping it simple - is sharing living space (literally) with a twelve-year-old girl, but think of it this way: imagine growing up knowing only the chill of death, even as you and everyone around you strove to defy it. Having only been three years old when the Terragrigia Panic, as the media calls it, took place, separating me from my parents and bouncing me around the foster care system within TerraSave - that last part actually wouldn't have been so bad if not for the fact that it was next to impossible for me not to see things from the workers there that constantly reminded me of what happened back then - I can actually understand, at least in part, what her life BEFORE her little experiment took place was like. Looking back, I was the first person to give her unconditional love, despite her giving me every reason not to: I can only imagine that if things had gone slightly different, she wouldn't have gotten the chance to really appreciate that, to appreciate the capacity to give a life rather than take it away.

…and I just realized how mature that probably sounded, which actually highlights one of the reasons why, even if we DID find a way to reverse the process, neither of us would go through with it: see, I get the chance to experience the maturity of her long life every now and then, and what little kid wouldn't appreciate that…but more than that, it seems her mind transference gave ME a cure for MY crippling health issue. You have to understand: the events I went through prior to all this left me damaged, leaving me in a state without fear. Sounds awesome, right? Wrong: I was also unable to really feel joy or anger or many of the other emotions that so many take for granted. Ironically enough, without her admittedly crazy plan, I might well have been in an emotionless state for the rest of my life…and I'm not the only one who benefits, am I, Alice?

"Alex's" POV

Ugh, she keeps insisting that I change my name to reflect on my new place in life. Nothing wrong with that I suppose: in fact, it's something I've been pondering myself. That said, if I've told her once, I've told her a thousand times: I'm NOT re-naming myself after a character made by Lewis Carol…but in any event, she's not wrong. Besides giving me the opportunity to hide from my associates, former or otherwise, until I was ready to make my move, I must admit that it's rather enjoyable being given the opportunity to be a child again…both literally and metaphorically. Of course, as you've probably surmised, this is but the end of the journey, or at the very least we're getting there: perhaps it's time we told you how we got to this point.

To be continued…

Disclaimer:

Alex Wesker's full name is of my own creation, but nothing else in this story belongs to me other than my original idea; also, apologies in advance if either her or Natalia appears out of character during the narration: this is supposed to be told from their point of view AFTER THE FACT, so there's plenty of time for subtle changes in personality along the way, especially given the overall premise here.

* reference to the "Little Miss" DLC


	2. Chapter 2

"There is a fine line between love and hate. Love frees the soul and in the same breath can sometimes suffocate it."

Cecelia Ahern

Chapter 1: Chapter 1, part 1

I don't hate you...wait, what?

"Alex's" POV

I suppose the best place to start this is from the beginning: to when we first locked eyes with one Barry Burton. …no, wait: actually, it might make more sense if we started a little earlier than that: six months earlier than that, to be precise. See, that was the day that, no matter how you look at it, that was the day the fates of myself and Natalia were intertwined: the day my former self transferred a flawless copy of her psyche into my companion's body…and that's an important distinction, as no matter how you look at it, no matter how *I* look at it, that was the moment I stopped being Alex Wesker. I don't really understand it, even now, but I DO know that it was one of many mistakes my former self made, thinking that she could dump one personality on top of another and expecting it to remain the same as it was originally.

What I can say WASN'T a mistake was that I…she (this is going to get rather confusing fast, isn't it?) knew that implanting a personality into another body wasn't something that you just DO: it would take time to integrate it slowly into the system as to ensure that rejection wasn't an option, which makes sense: *I* probably wasn't looking forward to dying a second time. Six months later, and the procedure (which for the sake of making sure no one repeats "my" mistake I won't be revealing the specifics of) was a success…for the most part. Originally, I was supposed to have overshadowed Natalia's personality entirely, but as I mentioned earlier, her will turned out to be stronger than anticipated. After a rather rousing failure at taking control, I…oh, just call it what it was: I threw a temper tantrum and "left", which just adds proof to what I've begun to suspect as time went on: between the "age" of my transfer and being in such a young body, I had perhaps been regressed mentally due to some unforeseen flaw in the procedure…not that I'm complaining: as I mentioned before, it's somewhat enjoyable getting to be a child again. In any case, I, or should I say Natalia, soon found herself waking up near the docks as a boat approached the island.

Natalia's POV

I'll take that as my cue to take over…but before I get to that, I should probably clear something up before I get too far. As I mentioned before, the events of Terragrigia left me in a nearly emotionless state that only started to go away after Alice (I know you're going to be mad at me, Sis, but I need to call you SOMETHING in order to keep you and the original Alex Wesker separate) started to interact with me. HOWEVER, that doesn't mean I couldn't react appropriately to a certain situation: you can be timid without being scared or react with surprise without being angry or excited…and I am NEVER going to get used to sounding so mature like that.

Anyways, to say that the man I would later learn to call "Dad" was shocked when he found me standing on the dock that day would greatly be understating things, though not as shocked as I was that he told me to stay behind while he checked things out. Could have been "Alex" trying to find a way to get the keys from Barry so she could get off the island using his own boat, could have been my re-emerging ability to feel fear reacting to the fact I was more-or-less going to be left alone surrounded by the monsters – yes, I know that's not the proper term, but even after all this time it's the only one that sticks with me – that I KNEW were still on the island, could have been a number of things really, but whatever the cause, I wasn't about to leave me on an idle motorboat all by my lonesome while he ran off who-knows-where to do who-knows-what all by HIS lonesome, and expressed that to my soon-to-be rescuer several times over on it pretty fiercely.

Now he argued: said it was too dangerous, but I was quick to point out that I wouldn't be much safer on a boat without any way to defend myself. Needless to say, while reluctant, he let me tag along so afterwards. We talked a bit: introduced ourselves, but that was one bit of our conversation that caught me, or Alice, off-guard…and before you go crazy on me, sis, I have to call you SOMETHING to keep you and "Alex Wesker" separate.

"Alex's" POV

Ugh: I HATE it when she calls me that, but I suppose I can't fault her logic...yet, I don't understand why she insists on THAT name. After all, taking everything into consideration, I'm not a "lighter" version of Albert Wesker's sister, not really: if anything, I'm a darker version of little Nat born from the ashes of Alex Wesker's defeat. …Nat…ashes…Natasha? Huh: that name isn't half-bad, now that I think about it, but I'm getting off-track.

At any rate, she isn't wrong: I was completely thrown off by one question raised by Barry Burton: "You're not scared of me?" Imagine my surprise when, after a second or two, I found myself giving the same answer as Natalia: "No: you're alright." Wait, scratch that: imagine my shock when I realized a half-second later that I had actually meant it. After all, this man, from what I had been able to dig up in my previous life, was at least partially to blame for all the trouble my father and brother both had to go through, even in an indirect way due to his daughter, Moira, in more recent times. Now here he was: the man who I should be more than willing to throw to the wolves, metaphorically speaking…and I couldn't find a reason to hate him. Might have been Natalia's pureness was – albeit unconsciously - starting to get under MY skin, might have been the previously established mental regression reacting to Barry's kindness, or it might have been something else entirely: whatever the cause, it was at that moment that I realized that the lack of hospitality in my former life meant that I literally had no reason to mourn my dead family. Despite every synapse in "my" brain telling me I should hate him…I couldn't find it in me to do so. Even as he helped to clear out a few creatures that attacked us on the way up to one of the island's MANY abandoned buildings, I had no idea just how much that would affect things to come.

To be continued…

Disclaimer:

In case it's unclear, I'm writing this using unlocked gameplay and/or important cutscenes as milestones for this story: makes it easier that way; also, from this point on, I'll be referring to Dark Natalia (aka the implanted copy of Alex Wesker's consciousness) as "Natasha"; in case you're wondering why, well as I've alluded to earlier, this story was going to get confusing fairly quickly if I didn't keep the two "Alex Wesker"s separate SOMEHOW; as for the name itself, gameplay-wise, Natalia in all her incarnations sort of reminds me of a younger Natalia Romanoff/Black Widow for some reason: heck, I could see her becoming something like that when she gets older, and be honest: how many of us would pay money to see someone like Scarlett Johansson appear in the "Resident Evil" series, whether it be films or video games?


End file.
